Chapter Seventeen
Izzy hadn’t known exactly what would happen when she mingled her blood with Black’s, but she hadn’t expected this. Black healed and younger, yes, because that’s what had happened to her after she mingled blood with that pregnant woman in Reno. She’d been thinking that had to be the cause of her miraculous recovery and sudden youth. That was confirmed now, as far as she was concerned.
But this, this was impossible and she said so.
“ It’s happened,” Lila said. “So it’s possible. Besides, look what happened to you. If you can accept that, you can certainly accept this.”
“ I don’t think I can,” Black said. Her voice had sort of a melodic ring to it. “How do we change it back?”
“ I don’t know,” Izzy said. “I don’t think we can.”
“ Christ.”
“ You’re a chick now, sister,” Lila said. “Get used to it.” She smiled.
“ Not funny,” Black said.
“ How about we call you Blackie.” Lila’s smile got bigger. Clearly she was amused.
“ Don’t like it,” Black said.
“ Tough shit,” Lila said. “You’re Blackie now and I’m guessing Blackie you’re going to stay.”
“ No, I think I’ll just stick with Black.”
“ Suit yourself,” Lila said.
“ It could be worse,” Izzy said.
“ Yeah, how?” Black said.
“ You could be dead,” Lila said. “You would’ve been if Dr. Eisenhower hadn’t healed you.”
“ She’s telling the truth. If I hadn’t done what I did, you’d be dead now.”
Black got off the bed, went to the mirror above the washbasin, looked at herself.
“ Damn,” she sighed. “I’m pretty good looking and those are the prettiest blue eyes I’ve ever seen.” She looked over at Izzy. “I’m thinking our DNA got mixed up. Your white skin, my black, we get coffee with cream. But the blue eyes, you don’t have those.”
“ My granddaughter does. It’s a recessive gene.” Izzy got up from the bed, walked over to her, looked her in the eyes. She was still having trouble coming to grips with everything that had happened. She felt faint.
“ Easy, Dr. Eisenhower,” Black said. “You don’t look so good, maybe you better sit down.”
“ You’ve gone from bewilderment, to rejection, to acceptance awful goddamn fast,” Lila said.
“ Yeah, the courage to accept what you can’t change, or something like that,” Black said.
“ So, now what?” Lila said. “We can’t stay here forever.”
“ I’ve got a winter job up at Howard Prairie Lake,” Black said. “It’s a camping resort up in the mountains east of Ashland. I’m up there all winter, November to April. Other than me, the resort is deserted.”
“ Deserted,” Lila said, “why?”
“ Usually, the place gets snowed it.” Black was still looking in the mirror.
“ Sounds perfect,” Lila said. “We should be going.” She smiled. “And I thought I was going to have to leave my car. If we’re going to be out of sight all winter, there’s no reason why I can’t bring it along.”
“ No reason.” Black turned away from the mirror.
“ What about the policeman next door?” Izzy said.
“ He’ll be fine,” Lila said. “The drug will wear off and he’ll go home.”
“ What policeman?” Black said.
“ That reminds me,” Izzy said. “I left the girls at a motel in Susanville. My daughter-in-law was supposed to pick them up and keep them out of sight. I should call and make sure they’re okay.” She got up, started for the phone, picked up the receiver.
“ What policeman?” Black said again.
Lila told him, then to Izzy, “You think it’s safe to call? Is it possible the cops know about her? Could they be waiting for your call, so they could track you?”
“ I hadn’t thought about that.” Izzy cradled the phone.
“ I’ve got a satellite phone up at the lake,” Black said. “Completely untraceable.”
“ You’re sure?” Lila said.
“ I’ve had my own reasons for not wanting my phone calls traced,” Black said. “I’m sure.”
“ Then it’s settled,” Lila said. “We’ll pack up and hide out at this resort. Dr. Eisenhower can check on her granddaughter when we get up there.”
“ Call me Izzy.”
“ We got nothing to pack,” Black said.
“ Figure of speech.” Lila started for the door, opened it. “Let’s be on our way.”
Izzy took the new Charger. Hunter rode with her. Black rode with Lila and directed her out of the parking lot and onto the freeway, heading south. Izzy stayed right on their tail. At the second Ashland off-ramp, she followed them off the freeway, stayed right behind as they turned left onto Dead Indian Memorial Road and headed up into the mountains.
After about five minutes winding upward, they came to tall pines, a forest right out of Hansel and Gretel, Izzy thought. Fifteen minutes more of the winding road and Izzy saw the lake as Lila made a right. Izzy followed and in a couple minutes was parking next to a log cabin nestled in tall pines, overlooking a mountain lake that took her breath away.
Izzy got out of the car, let Hunter out. The dog took off running and barking toward the lake, as if he knew they were safe, as if he knew he didn’t have to protect her, as if he knew he could just be a dog for a while and chase whatever it was he smelled on the wind.
“ Home sweet home, such as it is,” Black said. “We’ll be safe here for a few months and with a little luck, that’ll give us enough breathing room to figure this all out.”
“ I can’t believe you’re not totally freaking out,” Izzy said. “I would be.”
“ Actually, maybe not, Dr. Eisenhower,” Lila said. “You seem to be doing okay.”
“ You can call me Izzy,” Izzy reminded her. “And yeah, but so much more has happened to him.”
“ You mean her,” Lila said. “And yes, it’s amazing. She’s great under pressure. You should’ve seen him, I mean her, when these bad guys came at me in a helicopter. She was awesome, shot ’em out of the sky. It’s kind of scary how quickly she adjusts.”
“ I’ll say.”
“ When you’re as old as I am,” Black said, “you learn to take life as it comes and when you’ve lived the kind of life I have, you learn to react without thinking.”
Izzy grabbed her upper arms, rubbed her hands up and down them. “It’s kinda cold.”
“ Let’s get inside,” Black said. “I’ll start a fire and fire up the sat phone, so you can make your call.”
But when Izzy called, all she got was a voicemail message. This was the first time she’d heard her son’s voice in more years than she cared to remember. He still sounded the same after all this time as he said they were out and to please call back after 6:00. She sighed. Nothing for it but to wait. She hung up without leaving a message.
“ They’re not home.”
“ That doesn’t sound good,” Lila said. “Your picture is all over the TV and your granddaughter looks just like you.”
“ The message sounded pretty ordinary, not like anything was wrong.”
“ I hope you’re right,” Lila said. Then, “I wonder if that detective is going to call it quits and head back to Reno.” She rubbed a hand through her hair. “So many people give their word when their back is up against the wall and go back on it later.”
“ He had an honest face,” Izzy said. “I bet he keeps it. I bet he gets in his car and goes home.”
“ Again, I hope you’re right.” Lila rubbed her hand through her hair again. “I really need a shower.”
“ Back that way.” Black pointed to a doorway. “Down the hall, second door on the right.”
“ Thanks.” Lila started for the bathroom, muttering, “I do really hope he goes home, because I’d hate to shoot a man with an honest face.”
Bob Mouledoux came out of it slowly, with a groan. His head felt like someone had dropped a refrigerator on it, his stomach like he had the flu and the inside of his mouth was bone dry. His tongue was like coarse sandpaper.
He forced himself off the bed, started for the bathroom. At the sink, he stuck his mouth under the faucet and drank, gulping water like a man who’d been too long in the desert. Thirst satisfied, he felt pain in his thigh, in the same spot a gangbanger had smacked him with a tire iron a year earlier. That left a bruise that hurt for days. This was worse.